The developments came as the CBI custody of Raja, who was arrested by the investigating agency on February 2, ended on Thursday.
Former Telecom Minister A Raja, facing trial in the 2G spectrum allocation case, on Wednesday moved a Delhi court for bail saying the case against him is "false and fabricated".
Rubbishing government's claim of any wrongdoing in the 2G spectrum allocation, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday asked why was A Raja forced to quit as telecom minister if the loss to the exchequer estimated at Rs.1.76 lakh crore was not true.
A former aide of A Raja and key witness in 2G spectrum case on Wednesday failed to recall in a Delhi court if the ex-telecom minister had discussions on telecom issues with his erstwhile senior cabinet colleagues Pranab Mukherjee and P Chidambaram before sending the letters to the Prime Minister in November and December 2007.
Eight Union ministers, two former chief ministers and one ex-governor are among those who are set to test their electoral fate in the first phase of elections on April 19 when 102 seats across 21 states and Union territories will go to polls.
O P Saini, special judge of the designated Central Bureau of Investigation court in Patiala House, New Delhi, remanded former telecom minister A Raja, his aide R K Chandolia and former telecom secretary S Behura to five days custody as demanded by the investigative agency after one hour legal battle between Akhilesh, CBI's senior public prosecutor, and Ramesh Gupta advocate both for Raja and Chandolia.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday questioned former Telecom Minister A Raja for the fourth time in connection with the funding and allegedly showing favours to some telecom companies in granting 2G spectrum between October 2007 and 2008.
Upon discovery of the price for 3G and Broadband Wireless Access spectrum, BSNL and MTNL recently paid Rs 18,500.38 crore (Rs 185 billion) and Rs 11,097.97 crore (Rs 110.97 billion), respectively, to the government.
Former Telecom Minister A Raja was being questioned again at the headquarters of the Central Bureau of Investigation in New Delhi on Saturday in connection with alleged irregularities in the allocation of 2G spectrum to certain telecom firms.
Former Telecom Minister A Raja ignored the advice of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that the availability of 2G spectrum be assessed before the grant of licences, Central Bureau of India said on Saturday in its first chargesheet filed before a special court in New Delhi.
Former Telecom Minister A Raja on Wednesday subjected erstwhile Telecom Secretary D S Mathur to intense questioning during his cross-examination in the 2G case, prompting the court to caution the Dravida Munettra Kazhagam leader and his counsel against raising their voices.
Tainted former Telecom minister A Raja and Kanimozhi, daughter of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief MK Karunanidhi, who featured prominently in the taped conversations that corporate lobbyist Niira Radia had are being relieved from the DMK's organisational positions in the wake of allegations on 2G corruption and their frequent conversations and "unauthorised claims " on the DMK's participation in Union Cabinet in 2009.
The Department of Telecommunications is scheduled to auction 3G spectrum starting January 14.
"There is no contractual agreement to give spectrum beyond 6.2 MHz. We are releasing more spectrum based on subscriber base as suggested by telecom regulator Trai," Raja said in the House while replying to a question. Spectrum is radio frequency used for offering wireless telecom services. Currently, spectrum allocation norms, which were revised in August 2007, are being followed while the Teleconm Enginering Centre report is awaited.
The Central Bureau of Investigation may arrest eight bigwigs involved in the 2G Spectrum scam, including former telecom minister A Raja, corporate lobbyist Niira Radia and key Raja aides RK Chandolia and A K Srivastava.
The Central Bureau of Investigation is all set to videograph the questioning of former telecom minister A Raja on Friday.
Telecom Minister A Raja has been indicted by the CAG in the 2G spectrum scam, which resulted in a loss of about Rs 1,70,000 crore.
Aam Aadmi Party, whose main poll plank is fighting corruption, on Wednesday announced it would field candidates against 2G spectrum scam accused and former telecom ministers A Raja and Dayanidhi Maran of DMK in the April 24 Lok Sabha polls in Tamil Nadu.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is believed to have left it to telecom minister A Raja to resolve the tangle over allocation of spectrum, an issue that has brought industry bigwigs like Reliance Communications' Anil Ambani and Bharti Airtel's Sunil Mittal face to face.
Former Telecom Minister A Raja's investment in shares and fixed deposits have increased by nearly 170 per cent from Rs 8.52 lakh to a little over Rs 23 lakh during one year.
"I want to reiterate that I went as per the telecom policy of 1999, as per recommendations of Telecom and Regulatory Authority of India and vision contemplated by the government. If there have been any procedural lapses. Let it be investigated. No problem at all," Raja told reporters here two days after he unceremoniously put in his papers.
Former Telecom Minister A Raja was sent to CBI remand for three more days by a Delhi court which also extended the custody of Swan telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa for four days in the 2G spectrum case after the CBI said it wanted to confront them on the money trail.
Former Telecom Minister A Raja on Monday told a Delhi court that former finance minister and now Home Minister P Chidambaram, should be summoned and examined as a witness in the 2G spectrum allocation case.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday afternoon arrested tainted former Union telecom minister A Raja, his brother A K Perumal, along with his aide R K Chandolia and former telecom secretary Siddharth Behuria in connection with the 2G Spectrum scam.
Former telecom minister and Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam Member of Parliament A Raja is set to approach the Central Bureau of Investigation court to seek permission to attend the Budget Session of Parliament.On Wednesday, Raja received a letter from President Pratibha Patil convening the Lok Sabha from March 12, 2012.
Former Telecom Minister A Raja, the main accused in 2G spectrum scam, has told the Joint Parliamentary Committee that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was in the loop over policy decisions and has accused Attorney General G E Vahanvati of telling a "series of untruths" against him.
As Telecom Minister A Raja finally quit, speculation was rife that either party MP and Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi or Textiles Minister Dayanidhi Maran could replace him. Though there was no official word on who would hold the Telecom portfolio, indications were available that either Kanimozhi or Maran, both from the DMK's first family, may be the next in line.
A key prosecution witness in the 2G spectrum case on Wednesday told a Delhi court that former Telecom Minister A Raja had communicated to the prime minister about the policy for distribution of licences 'at his level' and the issues involved in it were 'not processed' in the DoT files.
Former telecom minister A Raja will appear on December 24 before officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation for questioning in connection with alleged irregularities in the allocation of 2G spectrum to certain telecom firms. CBI officials have sent a notice under Section 160 of the Criminal Procedure Code to Raja to appear before the investigating agency for questioning in the case. "I will cooperate with the investigating agency," Raja told reporters.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Thursday demanded sacking of Telecom Minister A Raja alleging that the 3G spectrum auction "convincingly" proved his involvement in corrupt practices in the sale of 2G spectrum.
A key 2G case witness and ex-aide of A Raja on Monday told a Delhi court that the former telecom minister was in touch with Swan Telecom promoters, Shahid Usman Balwa and Vinod Goenka and Unitech MD Sanjay Chandra and had cleared their projects during his stint with ministry of environment and forests in 2004-07.
The Joint Parliamentary Committee, probing the 2G telecom spectrum allocation scam, is unlikely to call former Telecom Minister A Raja as a witness before it.
Former Telecom Minister A Raja chose not to cross-examine today a key Central Bureau of Inmvestigation witness' testimony in the 2G spectrum case in a Delhi court saying he would wait till another accused to confront the witness.
Reacting to questions on advancing the cutoff date of receiving applications for 2 G spectrum, former telecom minister A Raja's lawyer, Sushil Kumar, said, "My (Raja's) secretary told me that there were 575 applications in total for 2 G spectrums and it was not possible to process all of them."
DB Reality and Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa was on Friday sent to Tihar Jail by court and remain in under judicial custody till March 3.
Former telecom minister A Raja, the prime accused in the 2G scam, was on Wednesday criticised by the Supreme Court for using 'intemperate and objectionable' language in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the issue of spectrum allocation policy.
Raja, in his plea which was filed on Monday, said "remanding of an accused to JC does not require his physical presence as discretion has been vested with the court for extending the same through video-conferencing." He had prayed that considering his security, the proceedings be conducted through video-conferencing.
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Jayalalithaa on Thursday said nothing short of a joint parliamentary committee probe into the 2G spectrum scam was acceptable to her party. She claimed that former telecom minister A Raja's arrest showed that those backing him have now 'accepted his guilt'. "These parties had initially said Raja was not guilty. But they have now accepted his guilt, following his arrest," she told reporters.
The latest row -- termed as independent India's largest financial scam -- is centered on the allocation of scare 2G spectrum at throwaway prices.
Wary of being transported with hardcore undertrials in a crowded jail van, former telecom minister A Raja on Monday moved a Delhi court seeking to conduct judicial proceedings through video conferencing in the 2G spectrum allocation scam case.
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